4. Hogwarts Classes

[Lupa]

So, it's time to start looking at subjects. Do you know what you're character is going to be good at yet? When trying to decide what classes work well together, think back to muggle subjects that people often are good at. Though not always, many of those good at math are also good at science, same with history and literature. Here it's easily to pair some of the classes together that are more similar in their structures. Arithmancy would likely go well with Muggle Studies given the more technological things one will be learning in the course, while Potions and Herbology are similar in nature. The same goes for Transfiguration and Charms, or Physical Education and Defense Against the Dark Arts, where students will learn to duel. You will notice there were change make to the course to keep up with the pretense of a present-day school and the effect that muggles have begun to have upon the wizarding world. 

• • Core Classes • •

• Arithmancy: The magical discipline that studies the magical properties of numbers, including predicting the future with numbers and numerology. Originally offered as an elective subject from the third year on at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, it has since been added to the core class list to be taught to first and second years so each of the students have a basic understanding of higher mathematical functions. It can be taken from third year on as an elective.  The homework assignments included writing essays that require the consultation and/or composition of number charts, as well as the completion of certain formulas provided by the professor.

• Charms: A class of spellwork that adds or changes certain properties to an object, distinguishing it from transfiguration, Charms has always been one of the main core classes at Hogwarts. Mastering the science of charmwork is clearly essential to performing the greater part of magic and is a large part of performing basic magic and spells that will likely be used in day-to-day life upon graduation of Hogwarts. An object that has a lasting charm placed on it is called bewitched, though charms in general appear to last longer than other spells. Most Jinxes and Hexes fall under the category of a charm.

• Defense Against the Dark Arts: A required subject from first year to fifth year, Defense Against the Dark Arts (commonly shortened to DAtDA) used defensive and offensive magic to help one protect them self from an attack by a muggle, another witch or wizard, of a creature, whether they be magical or not in nature. The curriculum of the class varies greatly depending on what the professor at the time deems appropriate, but generally covers a duelling section each year. Unlike some of the other classes, the lessons generally have a practical approach to them, with theoretical assignments given as homework.
  
  
• Herbology: The study of magical and mundane plants and fungi, herbology is the wizarding equivalent to botany. In Herbology, students learn to care for and utilize plants, and learn about their magical properties, and what they are used for. Many plants provide ingredients for potions and medicine, while others have magical effects of their own right. Herbology is a mandatory class at Hogwarts for the first five years of a student's education. Students spend class time learning about the different varieties of magical plants that exist. The further into a student's education the more difficult and dangerous the plants become. Like DAtDA, much of this class is of a practical approach, with the occasional theoretical assignments given for homework. Students are encouraged to wear their shabbier roped for this class as they can become spoiled or dirty, and must also where appropriate shoes.

• History: Once referred to as History of Magic and taught by a certain boring ghost, Hogwarts has reformed it to include the history of both the wizarding and muggle world, though much of the class still focuses heavily on wizarding culture. It now also brings in more of the foreign affairs that the class once lacked, and teaches the students starting in pre-history in their first year, to present day in their fifth year. 

• Muggle Studies: Once considered an easy elective, Muggle Studies in now a required course for the first five years of classes, teaching the students about muggles in a proper fashion, how to blend properly, and also how to utilize their technology. While students will be learn a lot about their muggle counterparts, this will also become a large technology class and will take time each week to explain how all the various types of day-to-day technology works, which further assists in the ability to blend seamlessly in with the muggles.

• Physical Education: After the Battle of Hogwarts, many of the faculty and students recognized how helpful a good physical regimen could be, not only in dueling and spellwork, but also in general. Physical education usually has the students sparing to teach them good footwork and running laps. If/When the professor is a muggle or halfborn, team sports are sometimes taught to the students. This class is a requirement for first and second years to teach them how to keep a healthy lifestyle and give them a "recess" time, and can also be taken from third year on as an elective. This is the only core class that requires students to change out of their normal class/work robes and into a pair of shirts of shorts and tennis shoes to make good for running and sparring in.

• Potions: In this class students learn the correct way to brew potions, a magical mixture that is commonly brewed in a cauldron and is used to create various effects on the drinker. Following specific recipes and using various magical ingredients to create the potions, the students start with simple ones in their first year and move to more advanced ones as they progress in knowledge. A standard potions kit includes plant ingredients such as Belladonna and supplies such as glass phials and weighing scales. At Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Potions is a required subject for students, from the first year to the fifth year. Potion recipes can be found in many books, including the books the students at Hogwarts use in their classes, but the intricacies of timing, ageing, stirring techniques, and bottling which are much more difficult to learn without the mentoring of the experienced masters. Certain ingredients can be found in the cupboard in the classroom, but others have to be bought before the start of the year at the apothecary.

• Transfiguration: The art of changing the form and appearance of an object or being, transfiguration is a required class for first to fifth years, like many of the other core classes at Hogwarts. There are limits to Transfiguration, which are governed by Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration and there are also many branches of Transfiguration, including Cross-Species Transfiguration and Human Transfiguration. Transfiguration is rearguard as "very hard work" and is "more scientific" than any other subject as in, you have to get it exactly right for the transfiguration to be successful. Students practice actual transfigurations during classes and accidents sometimes result in partial transfigurations, which is always quickly rectified by the professor. Like Charms and DAtDA, the class is mostly practical in nature with theoretical and practice homework sometimes being assigned.

• • Electives • •

• Alchemy: Provided there is sufficient demand, Alchemy, an ancient science, is an optional subject taught to sixth and seventh-years. Alchemy is a branch of magic that concerns the studies of the four basic elements, fire, water, earth and air, as well as the study of the transmutation of substances. It is commonly taken up by students studying potions and/or transfiguration in their sixth and seventh years and resembles a wizarding version of chemistry. Besides the practical approach of alchemy, a theoretical approach is taught as well, involving philosophy and alchemical literature. The science itself dates back to antiquity, though there were still wizards and witches actively studying and practicing it in the twentieth century.

• Ancient Runes: The Study of Ancient Runes (commonly shortened to Ancient Runes) is an elective course at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, that can be taken by students third year and above. It is the study of runic scriptures, or Runology. Ancient Runes is a mostly theoretical subject that studies the ancient runic scripts of magic.

• Apparation: Similar to a Muggle School's Drivers Ed Course, the Apparition class is an optional twelve-week course offered to sixth and seventh years at Hogwarts for, as its name suggests, learning how to Apparate. The class begins shortly after the Christmas holidays and the course costs the students to join, as the same would expect from a drivers course. At the end of the class, those who passed the test received a licence to Apparate. Those who splinched themselves, even in a minor way, would be forced to retake the test. Apparition is a magical method of transportation and is basically the magical action of travelling by having the user focus on a desired location in their mind, then disappear from their current location and instantly reappear at the desired location; in short, it is a form of teleportation. It is by far the fastest way to get to one's desired destination, but is tricky to pull off correctly and disastrous if botched up. Apparition is a popular method of travel in the wizarding world, though it is stated that plenty of adult witches and wizards don't bother with it.
  
  
• Art: Like the muggle version, this class teaches the students how to improve their drawing, painting and sculpting skills, as well as try maybe different other things, such as how to make art using magic rather than the "muggle" way, and also teaches students how to turn photographs and paintings into moving portraits. The class is an elective class accessible only to third year students and above.
  

• Astronomy: Once a required class, it has been pushed back to make room for some of the new core classes, but still proves to be a highly popular class and is often full of students. Astronomy lessons are spent learning the names of stars and the movements of planets and often take place late at night in the Astronomy tower. It is a largely practical class with some homework that involves a more science based pursuit of knowledge of the plants and the stars.

• Care of Magical Creatures: One of the elective course offered to third years and up, this course teaches students about a wide range of magical creatures, from flobberworms to Fire crabs, and even unicorns and thestrals. Students are taught about feeding, maintaining, breeding, and proper treatment of these various creatures. It is often considered an easy and fun class and never offers much homework.
  
  
• Cultural Magic: Once labelled Ancient Studies, the class as since been expanded to review the different ways that other witches and wizards in different cultures outside of Great Britain, both in the past and present, conducted their magic. Much of this class involves learning wandless magic and utilizing other instruments that witches and wizards in other cultures use and is highly practical in nature, with a few theoretical homework assignments.

• Divination: The method of divining the future, or gathering insights into future events, through various rituals and tools. Divination is an elective subject available beginning in a student's third year. Students study a myriad of ways to scry information about the future, including tea dregs, crystal balls, visions, and Astrology and horoscope charts. Other methods of divining the future include smoke patterns, dreams, tarot cards, and the interpretation of prophecies, though the latter is quite rare. Guides and textbooks allow students of Divination to discern or translate what observed symbols intend to mean.
  
  
  
• Flying: This class started as one stand alone lesson for first years to familiarize themselves with a broomstick has since expanded to help teach students in a formal setting how to ride a broom and give them a secure environment to practice in. This class is not a consecutive class but rather a stand alone class that can be taken anywhere in a student's third to seventh year. It is a practical application only class and has no homework, much like Apparation.

• French: With complaints from both muggle and wizarding parents alike, a foreign language course has been added to the school's curriculum and is offered to third years and above as an elective class. Little to no magic is learned in this class and much of the work is nearly identical to a muggles' foreign language class.

• Music: An Elective class offered to those of the musically inclined students of hogwarts, the Music classes offer an outlet similar to the Art classes and do not specialize in one aspect, but cover many. Like many of the other elective classes, this is for third years and above and offers the opportunity to learn how to read music sheets, play instruments, or work on ones singing ability.